Improvement in till-alarms



1G. L. GEI-GER.

Till-Alarms.

Patented August 19, 1873.

NNrrrin STATES Tirion.

GEORGE L. GIGER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN TILL-ALARMS. v

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,0!2, dated August19, 1873; application tiled May 13,1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. GEIGER, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,have invented a Combination Till Lock and Alarm, of which the followingis a specification:

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficientcombination lock for a drawer or till, which, without permitting theopening ofthe drawer, will sound an alarm if tampered with byunauthorized persons.

I attain this object in the manner best observed .inthe sectional view,Figure l, plan view, Flg. 2, and enlarged section, Fig. 3, of theaccompanying drawing, by the use of a lock in which a series oftnmblers, A, carried by independent slides B, are combined with alocking plate or lever, D, adapted to notches a and a in the counter ortable to which the drawer is fitted, and having a projection, b, Figs. 2and 4, arranged to strike the operating-lever b of' an alarm-bell,E,.the tumblers being so adjusted that if the whole number, or any ofthem, at random, are pulled forward by and with their slides, inattempting to open the drawer, the plate or lever D shall be sustainedby the same in its elevated position, and thus sound an alarm andprevent the opening of the drawer, while, if the proper slides andtumblers are drawn forward, the obstruction will be removed from theplate or lever D, which will then drop sufliciently to permit theopening of the drawer without sounding an alarm.

My invention' will be fully understood from the following detaileddescription of its construction and operation.

The drawer or till F is provided with any` suitable arrangement ofinternal receptacles c, and has grooves in its opposite edges, to whichare adapted guiding-ribs d, secured to the under side of the table orcounter G, to which the drawer is fitted. Within and at the rear end ofthe drawer is fitted a lock-case, H, having in the present instance ahinged front, H', Figs. 1 and 3, which can be thrown back or lowered forthe purpose of obtaining access to the interior of the lock.` A seriesof suitably-guided parallel slides, B--iive, in the present instance-arearranged across the bottom of the lock-case, and extend almost to theiront of the drawer, as shown in Fig. 1, cach Y of the said slides beingbent downward at its its front end so as to form a handle, c; To each ofthe slides within the lock! case is secured a standard, f, and to eachof the latter is pivoted a reversible tumbler, A, formed with paralleledges g g and beveled edges h h, as shown in Fig. 3, and having at itsopposite endsy notches i t1, into one of which enters a, retaining-arm,i2, held within the notch by a spring, y, secured to the back of thelock-case, and which is of sufficient strength to serve also as a mediumfor drawing and holding back the entire slide and tumbler. Upon theseries of tumblers, which extend transversely across the lock-case, asshown in Fig. 2, rests the projection lc of a locking plate or lever, D,which has pivots l l atL its rear end adapted to slots in the lock-oase,and is acted on by a spring or springs, m, arranged between the saidpivots and projection, so as to draw both downward to their full extent.

When the said plate or lever D is elevated, as shown by full lines inFig. 3, its front end enters the notch a formed for its reception in theunder side ot' the counter or table, and a projection7 b, and one sideof the same, is directly in the path of the operating'lever b ot' thealarm-bell E, as shown in the detached View, Fig. 4; but when depressed,as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the said plate Aor lever willclear the notches under the counter or table as well as the bell, 4andthe drawer may then be opened, and without sounding any alarm.

The receptacles c slide upon the lower receptacles c, and have aprojection, n, at each side (see Fig. 5) adapted to grooves p cut in theunder side ofthe table or counter, so that if pushed inward when thedrawer is opened the said receptacles will be returned to their properposition at the front oi' the drawer when the latter is closed by theirsaid projections n, which strike shoulders p' at the ends of grooves p.

posite side of the drawers, near the front ot. the same, strikeshoulders r at the ends of the guidingstrips d when the drawer is pushedinward to its full extent, and tend to force itv outward slightly, so asto bring the projection b of the lockingplatc in contact with thebelllever b', so that the slightest outward move-l Springs q q, Fig. 2,at the opment of the drawer, suoli as would be caused by tampering withthe same, will cause an alarm to be sounded.

It will be observed, on reference to Fig. 3, that some of the tumblers Aare turned in one direction and some in the opposite direction7 thosewhose parallel edges g are at the front holding` up the locking-plate Dwhen the said tumblers are in the position shown by full lines, whilethose whose parallel edges are at the rear sustain the saidlocking-plate when drawn forward to the position indicated by dottedlines.

It follows, therefore, that as long as any one of the tumblers isreversed the plate D cannot be lowered and the drawer unlocked bypulling forward the whole number of tumblers simultaneously by means oftheir handled slides.

If, however, those tumblers only whose parallel edges g are at the'frontare drawn forward to the position indicated by dotted lines, the bevelededges h of the two sets of tumblers will be brought into line beneaththe projection 7c of the plate D, which will permit the latter, acted onby its spring m, to drop or turn upon its pivots sufficiently to clearthe notch a of the counter, as shown by dotted lines, when the drawermay be opened without further obstruction, and without sounding anyalarm, as the projection b of the plate will also, when lowered, clearthe bell-lever.

If the slides B of those tumblers which were drawn forward be releasedafter passing the notch a., the end of locking-plate will enter thenotch al, Fi g. 1, and prevent the drawer from being fully withdrawn 5but by again pulling forward the same tumblers, or by retaining them intheir forward position, the locking-plate may be dropped or permitted toremain depressed until the said notch al has been passed.

In pushing the drawer back to its original position, the front end ofthe locking-plate or lever will be pressed downward by the under side ofthe counter, and elevated at its rear end, the projection kin such caseresting upon the tumblers, and serving as a fulcrum for the saidplate-lever.

By simply drawing out the retainers i2 and reversing any of thetumblers, the combination by which the drawer is opened may be changed,as desired. In the present instance the first and fourth tumblers of theseries, indicated by the numbers 1 and 4 in Fig. 2, are Ithe ones whichrequire to be drawn forward by means of the slides before the drawer canbe opened, the drawing forward of any of the remainder of the tumblers,in addition to these two, or separately, presenting an obstruction tothe dropping of the locking-plate, and therefore preventing theunlocking of the drawer.

If desired, a table of combinations of numbers by which the lock can beopened may be l side, and adapted to an opening, s, in the rear l of thelock-case.

In Fig. 6 a modified form of tumbler, capable of rocking in onedirection or the other, instead of being entirely reversed, isillustrated. This tumbler, F, is pivoted t0 the standard f, and is cutaway on its under edge, so as to form front and rear shoulders, againsteither of which, as desired, a retainer, 113, is caused to bear. Ifagainst the front shoulder, as shown, the tumbler can be depressed bythe pressure of the projection 7c of the lookin gplate upon the rearportion of its upper edge, while if the retainer is caused to bear uponits rear shoulder, the said tumbler can only be depressed or rocked bythe pressure of the projection h upon the front portion of its upperedge.

In this way, it will be evident, an equivalent is obtained for thetumblers A, with their parallel and beveled edges g and h.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, with a drawer, of a series oftumblers, each secured to and sliding with a slide, and a locking-plateor lever, D, as set forth.

2. The locking-plate or lever D, having pivots Z adapted to slots in thelock-case, a projection, k, bearing upon the tumblers, and a spring orsprings, m, arranged between the said pivots and projection, upon eitherof which the said plate may be turned as a fulcrum, as set forth.

3. The combination, with the said lockingplate or lever D, of a slidingbolt, s, adapted to an opening in the lock-case or drawer, as set forth.

4. The combination, with each of the slides B, of a reversible tumbler,A, adjustable, as set forth.

5. The tumblers A, constructed, substantially as described, withparallel edges g g and beveled edges h h, and pivoted to standards f ofthe slides so as to be capable of reversal thereon, as set forth.

6. The combination, with the reversible tumblers, of spring-retainingarms i2, adapted to notches in the opposite ends of the said tumblers,as specified. Q i

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE L. GEIGER.

Witnesses:

WM. A. STEEL, HUBERT HowsoN.

